No more meat

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Andō has recently undergone a renovation of its premises, and Goldfinger also took the opportunity to revamp the menu. One of the most notable points is that it no longer features any meat - unless guests specifically asks for an alternative to what's on offer. I had accepted the invitation from B Bestie some time ago, but when he suddenly asked me to find myself a companion for the meal, I knew that he didn't want to put me near any of the Bs he loves to invite... so I brought Foursheets along.

We started with the bocaditos:

Uni, buri - the yellowtail was marinated with citrus, and the sea urchin was interesting because it wasn't so sweet like usual, and the flavor profile was more savory.

Marinated scampi, eggplant, flowers - we've got a little bit of acidity here with the scampi and roasted eggplants, and also fragrant herbs and flowers.

Sea snail dashi - also with roasted onions. OK la.

Olive bread

Two types of olive oil were served, made with two different types of olives.

Ama ebi, ossetra caviar, cava air, bell pepper - you can imagine my disappointment when this showed up with just tiny little flakes of gold... and all I see is the caviar surrounded by the crème fraîche and cava foam.

There was a dashi (出汁) panna cotta at the bottom, with some bell pepper purée whose flavors helped to balance out the salt from the caviar. The foam was pretty subtle.

Carabinero, takana, prawn emulsion - how interesting that this came with a tsukemono (漬物) of takana (高菜) on top of some aonori (青海苔) panna cotta, which was kinda savory.

The carabinero was nicely done, and of course I loved the prawn head mayo!

Hokkaido hotate, maitake, brandy - this came with some maitake (舞茸) and also artichoke purée together with lightly-fried onions. Both the purée and foam were nice, and I could taste the artichoke there with some acidity. Thin slices of matsutake (松茸) are placed on top to garnish.

The scallops were done so nicely... wonderful texture that was just so fluffy. Beautiful and sweet.

Coral grouper, okahijiki, roasted salsa roja, radish - Goldfinger loves to serve up fish where the scales are crispy from urokoyaki (鱗焼き), and we had some sorrel leaves on top. The sauce made with tomatoes and piquillo was pretty nice, together with some okahijiki (おかひじき) or saltwort.

Cuttlefish, arroz caldoso - ah... the signature dish, with this version made with cuttlefish, Chinese yellow wine, as well as the local Yi-O rice (二澳米). I asked for just a little bit of the chili paste made with peanuts and spring onions.

Carlito came over and present us with a foam made with 2009 Dongqu (冬趣).

We were asked to add some foam to the arroz caldoso. As it aleady had Chinese yellow wine inside, the combination worked very well.

Seaweed, seaweed gelée, edamame, seaweed tuile - underneath the seaweed tuile we had some green soy bean ice cream, fresh green soy beans, kombu jelly. So the ice cream tasted a little nutty, and the tuile was nice and savory.

Peach, jasmine tea emulsion, peach sobert - the peach comes from Yamanashi Prefecture (山梨県). The meringue on top was made with some Greek yogurt. Very fruity and refreshing.

Finally, some mignardises:

Grape sorbet

Apple and honey tart

Fig and ricotta tart

Carlito also offered us a few glasses to go with our menu:

Krug Grande Cuvée, 173ème Édition, Krug ID 124019 – toasty nose. High acidity but with more depth on the palate.

2024 Beyond Time Viognier - this was VERY floral, with lots of lychees. Very ripe and sweet on the palate.

2022 Tiano and Nareno Travesia del 1908 - fresh and lively, minty and a bit earthy.

Very interesting to see the direction the restaurant has taken. Although it was always more seafood-focused in the past, taking meat off completely is kinda big. Looking forward to see how this evolves over time. Meanwhile, I am grateful to Goldfinger, Carlito, and the team for their kind treat.